Special Strikes

In early April 1878, the superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, Henry L. Dodge, announced that dies for the new standard silver dollar—now known as the Morgan dollar—would be shipped to the San Francisco Mint and that coinage of the new design would begin sometime around the middle of the month.

The new dies arrived on April 16, and on April 18, the Alta California reported,

The Superintendent of the United States Mint at San Francisco, Henry L. Dodge, notified the Press of the city, yesterday, that the dies for coining the new silver dollar had arrived on the previous evening, and the first impressions would be taken at half-past 8 o’clock in the afternoon. This notice also embodied an invitation to be present and witness the ceremony of issuing the first dollar. The invitation was generally accepted, and nearly all the daily papers were represented. Ex-Governor F.F. Low, a number of ladies, and different officers of the Mint, were also present. Coiner Cicott acted as Master of Ceremonies, and under his direction the coins were struck off. Superintendent Dodge placed the first piece of silver in the press, and, when the Imprint was taken, presented it to Mr. Cicott. The second was given to Governor Low, the third, fourth and fifth to three ladies present, and others to different gentlemen present. 

First Strike Problems

After the first 10 presentation pieces were distributed, Francis X. Cicott’s team connected the press to the mint’s steam engine and then began striking coins intended for circulation. However, after around 1,000 pieces were struck, the dies shattered. Immediately following the ceremony, Superintendent Dodge sent a telegram to the Washington, D.C., office of Henry Linderman, director of the U.S. Mint, informing him that “Dies arrived today. First coin struck this afternoon. Full operation tomorrow. What shall I do with the coin?” Linderman’s response did not arrive until April 29. Linderman replied: “Requests that five Standard Silver Dollars of this coinage be forwarded.”

The mint director’s request was simple, but problematic. Dodge and Olcott had only reserved a single specimen of the new dollar for Linderman, and the dies used to strike that coin were no longer serviceable. Despite this, around a week and a half later, Dodge sent a package containing five specimens of the newly struck dollars, and on May 10, the mint’s ledger recorded, “Encloses Coin draft on Asst Treas for $5.14 in payment of 5 Standard dollars forwarded to Washington.”

Identifying Varieties

Today, it is believed that the coins issued at the striking ceremony on April 17 were from the dies now identified by Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis as VAM-60, thanks to the survival of a VAM-60 dollar, engraved with the inscription, ONE OF THE FIRST TEN COINED APRIL 17TH, 1878 FROM J. GUS BURT. Sold as Lot 2254 in Bowers & Merena’s sale of the Eliasberg Collection, the coin was cataloged as a branch-mint proof. Both Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and Numismatic Guaranty Company subsequently authenticated it as such.

In 2018 PCGS identified a second variety of the 1878-S Morgan dollar, a VAM-58, as a special strike. That coin was part of one of the principals of Bishop & Co. Bank in Honolulu, Hawaii. Interestingly, much of the Bishop’s Bank collection is now believed to have been assembled with the assistance of founding member of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club and associate of Mint Director Linderman, Alexander Cartwright, suggesting that the second group of coins struck at Linderman’s request were from the VAM-58 die pair.

A version of this article appears in the November 2025 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).